This afternoon I got a lift with the dive boat from Gili Trawangan to the harbour of Tuluknare in Lombok. After waiting there for an hour I was picked up by the driver at met up with my Swiss fried Lorenz again. After driving along the coast to the village called Senaru we arrived at our guest house where we spent the night.
Thursday 19. May
This morning we started early with banana pancakes for breakfast at 6:30am, and pick up at our guest house at 7am. After a small ride on the motorbike we arrived at the Rinjani Trek Centre where we paid the fee for the national park. Here we also met with our guide, and two Austrian guys going with the same guide. At 8am we started the trek, the guide, Lorenz, Adreas, Martin, me, and the two porters who carried our supplies for the next 3 days.
The view from our guest house in Senaru, where we also left most of our baggage
Our first proper break, at position 2 on the way from Senaru
The monkey waiting for us to leave some food after our lunch break
After hiking through dense forest for some hours the trees started to get smaller, and when we finally arrived at our first camp site there were few trees around. The altitude of our first camp site was 2400m, and for dinner we had nice local Indonesian food with chicken. Also we were served nice tea before our meal. The starry sky at the camp site was really amazing, and the sunset to the west was also really stunning.
Lorenz and Marting having a rest on the way to the first base camp
Our porters, carrying food supplies, tents, cooking gear and more
The tent at the first base camp in the late afternoon
Friday 20. May
After a really cold and windy night we woke up early in the morning, the view when we opened the tent was truly amazing, so then we quickly forgot about the chilly night, and got some hot tea and banana pancakes for breakfast. From the first base camp our hike continued up to the first rim of the volcano at an altitude of 2700m. From the first rim we got a glimpse of what we had coming, the summit another 1000m up from where we stood.
The view when we opened the tent in the morning
The view from the first rim at 2700m
The view over the volcanic lake and the summit from the first rim at 2700m
From the rim we descended down to the crater lake called Segara Anak, so basically we dropped down to 2000m again. The reward that awaited us here was the hot springs, so after a nice bath there we had our lunch at the lake. The next goal after lunch was the base camp at the second rim at an altitude of 2700m. Reaching the base camp around 4pm we pitched our tents and had dinner before going to bed really early.
Descending the steep path down to the lake
The volcanic lake at 2000m
The scenery on the way to the base camp at the second rim
Andreas, me, and Lorenz just before arriving at the last base camp
This is the base camp at the second rim, from here we would leave at 3am the next morning
Sunset at the last base camp
Saturday 21. May
At 2:30am we woke up and had some hot tea and cookies, the temperature outside was only 10 degrees. We got our head lamps and started the trek towards the summit at 3am, the goal was to reach the summit by 6:20 for sun rise. The hike was quite hard, with loose volcanic stones covering the path. For every step forward, there would be a half step slide back. This basically meant that we had to do 50% work.
On our way to the summit it was really windy, the local guide told us that it was far beyond normal, but the good thing was the the weather was still completely clear. Climbing in the dark for 3 hours was quite hard, and then finally we could see the goal, the summit of Mt. Rinjani at 3,726 m. Lorenz and I representing the Swiss and Norwegian mountain countries led the way and arrived at the summit just 5 minutes before sun rise.
Sunrise seen from the summit of Mt. Rinjani at 3,726 m
The view from the summit to the south of Lombok
Lorenz and me at the summit, it's really windy
Me at the summit of Mt. Rinjani
Posing again, with the sunrise
The view to the South-East of Lombok
The trail leading down to Sembalung
The view from the summit basically included all of Lombok, parts of Bali, and parts of Sumbawa to the east. After taking in the spectacular view we started our decent back to the base camp again. Our porters had prepared a nice breakfast for us, so before we started on our long way down to Sembalung at 900m, we enjoyed breakfast and relaxed in the sun for a while.
The walk down to Sembalung really seemed to be endless, but at 4pm we finally reached Sembalung where we got our transport back to Senaru where we started. One Bintang later we got on our way to our destination, the Austrian guys going to Gili Air, and Lorenz and me to Singgigi for the night.
Finally down on a path that's not steep
Rice terraces outside of Sembalung village
Martin and me finally back in a vehicle after 25km of hiking
Mt. Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo.
Especially I think we have to thank our porters who carried all the supplies, only wearing thongs as footwear. Down in Singgigi I'm really happy to have my thongs again, but I would never ever climb a mountain with them..,
Next up is exploring some more of Lombok on the motor bike, so stay tuned!
